Monte's Multiple: England can strike against grumpy Aussies

/ Jaymes Monte / 07 July 2009 / Leave a Comment

As we all do these days, I enjoy a bit of Facebook. What's not to like? Good for getting in touch with people you haven't seen for years? Check. Good for keeping in touch with people you see every day? Check. Good for flicking through endless photo albums while you really should be doing something else? Check. Good for wasting your lunch hour whilst dropping the cucumber out of your sandwich onto the keyboard? Check.

I'll tell you what's not to like; the endless drivel that I have to either 'Confirm' or 'Ignore' or click 'Yes', 'No' or 'Maybe' to. My answer to things I don't like would usually be to just ignore them, not click 'Ignore' but just completely disregard. This tactic usually works well in the real world, but with Facebook you have to face these things at some point otherwise you end up with 'five event invitations', 'four cause invitations', 'three easter egg frenzy requests', 'two smile requests' and a partridge in a pear tree.

So I decided to go through them and get rid of them all, a bit of spring cleaning if you will. Now it turns out I've got a new poker buddy called Michael, Simon is collecting my smiles, I had a pillow fight with Clare, I'm bringing back Creamola foam and Mr Muscle, I've joined the Midlothian gym and am part of some Mafia war for which I have five godfather points at my disposal. Whatever happened to a pint and a bag of nuts among friends?

Bet 1: Cricket - 1st Ashes Test

Much has been made of the decision to play the first test in Cardiff rather than at Lord's. It's a decision which seems to have caused more amongst the Australians who have commented on the subject at some length. One expects that it is more down to Australia's exemplary record at Lord's than a sudden bout of nostalgia. Come Sunday evening that decision by the ECB could prove to be a judgement of acute genius.

Even at this late stage there remains a degree of uncertainty as to how the pitch will perform, but it is widely expected to be a spin friendly surface. And with the weather expected to be suitably grim and overcast, the conditions should be ideal for England's swing bowlers.

The pressure is off England this summer as it was in 2005 and these are the situations in which the English usually prosper. With conditions turning more in England's favour with each passing day, Ricky Ponting's men possibly be a little grumpy at having to spend too much time in Leicester and Brett Lee's omission through injury this is a case of striking whilst the iron is hot.

Selection: Back England @ [3.5] to win the 1st Test

Bet 2: Football - Europa League

The newly revamped Europa League got underway last week, barely six weeks since the conclusion of the 2008/09 season. Motherwell's defeat at the hands of Welsh side Llanelli was one of the shocks of the round, the Scot's losing 1-0 in new manager Jim Gannon's first match in charge.

The enormity of the task ahead and the exceptionally shortened close season begs the question for some clubs - is there any point in gaining a European spot? For Motherwell (and indeed Llanelli) if they are to even make it as far as the Europa League group stages they must play eight games. Then from there they must play another 15 if they want to lift the trophy. With Champions League failures entering the competition at various stages it seems an impossible task for some of the smaller clubs with even smaller squads.

It's hardly glamorous for the fans either, should Motherwell progress from their trip to Wales, they will face a trip to Albania the following week. No offense to any Albanians but it's hardly the football hot bed that supporters boast about whilst waving their passports to taunt opposition fans.

One can't help thinking that Gannon and Motherwell have bigger problems than the Europa League to worry about. With defender Paul Quinn becoming the ninth first team player to leave Fir Park this summer, the Europa League seems a distraction they could do without. It may work in their favour long term if they were not to progress to the next round and have their pre season work disrupted with seemingly endless trips to third rate European cities.

Selection: Lay Motherwell to beat Llanelli @ [1.7].